River Torne
Encyclopedia
The River Torne is a river in the north of England, which flows through the counties of South Yorkshire
and North Lincolnshire
. It rises at the Upper Lake at Sandbeck Hall, near Maltby
in South Yorkshire, and empties into the River Trent
at Keadby
pumping station. Much of the channel is engineered, as it plays a significant role in the drainage of Hatfield Chase
, which it crosses.
from Stainforth
to Adlingfleet
. The River Idle
flowed northwards from the point later called Idle Stop, and joined the Don near to Sandtoft, while the Torne formed two channels to the west of Wroot
, both of which joined the Idle.
In 1626, Cornelius Vermuyden
was given the task of draining Hatfield Chase, and he radically altered the rivers. The Don was routed northwards from Stainforth, to join the River Aire
near Turnbridge, while the Idle was dammed at Idle Stop, and routed eastwards to join the Trent at West Stockwith
. This left the Torne with no outfall, and a completely new channel was constructed for it, which was embanked on both sides. It ran in a north-easterly direction from Wroot for 6 miles (9.7 km), crossing the Isle of Axholme
, and then turned to the east for 3 miles (4.8 km), where it entered the Trent at a sluice near Althorpe. At the same time, a drain was constructed which ran northwards from Idle Stop in a straight line for 8 miles (12.9 km) to Dirtness. It passed under the new channel of the Torne at Tunnel Pits. At Dirtness it was joined by another new drain, some 3 miles (4.8 km) long, flowing in from the west, and the combined flow was carried to the east for a further 5 miles (8 km), to enter the Trent at another sluice at Althorpe. The Torne sluice was 11 feet (3.4 m) wide, and the sluice on the drain was 14 feet (4.3 m) wide.
The new route of the Torne was not entirely successful. It crossed fertile parture land to the north-western of the Isle of Axholme, but the banks were not sufficiently large to hold the maximum volume of water which the river could deliver, and the agricultural land was subject to flooding. There was dissatisfaction among the inhabitants of the Hatfield Chase area with the effects of the drainage scheme, which resulted in riots and damage to the work. A series of law suits followed, and the situation was not finally resolved until 1719.
In the 1760s, there were plans to drain Potteric Carr, an area of wetland to the south of Doncaster covering 4250 acres (1,719.9 ha). The engineers John Smeaton
and James Brindley
were responsible for the plans, but Thomas Tofield, a botanist and civil engineer who lives nearby at Balby
, directed the project when work began in 1765 or 1766. The first stages involved a new channel for the Torne, and the construction of the Mother Drain, the main drainage channel for the area, together with two branch drains. These were completed by 1768. Doncaster Corporation then divided up the Carr and enclosed it, and when this was completed in 1771, Trustees took over the management of the scheme. Further work was done between 1772 and 1777, again with Tofield directing, and Mathias Scott acting as resident engineer and surveyor. By the time the scheme was completed, 4.6 miles (7.4 km) of the river channel had been rerouted, the Mother Drain had been extended to 4.5 miles (7.2 km), and 3 miles (4.8 km) of catchwater drains had been build.
The fall on the Mother Drain was very low, but Smeaton had designed it with a channel, the bottom of which was below the level of the outfall. In a separate dispute over the design of drains for Deeping Fen
, he explained how he had used the extra depth at Potteric Carr, since the flow increases depending on the ratio of the cross-sectional area to the wetted perimeter, when the gradient of the channel is less than 4 inches per mile (6 cm per km). The sluice which connected the Mother Drain to the Torne was designed by Scott in 1772. Scott resigned his post in April 1774, to move to Thorne and to work for the Trustees of Hatfield Chase. One of his first suggestions was to divert the Torne out of the Chase altogether, by making a new cut for it to the River Don at Thorne. Thomas Yeoman proposed an alternative scheme, which involved routing the drains away from Althorpe to a new outfall some 4 miles (6.4 km) downstream on the Trent.
Scott produced a report on both schemes in October 1775, but the cost of acquiring the land outside of the Chase was a major disadvantage. Exactly a year later, Smeaton produced a detailed report on the Torne, and work began, but some alterations were made as the scheme progressed. Scott suggested that the northern drain should be re-routed to Keadby, and then steered the bill through Parliament. The Act of Parliament
was obtained in March 1783, before he retired in June. Samuel Foster replaced him, built the new drain and outfall at Keadby, and built separate outfalls at Althorpe for the Torne and the southern drain. The reconstruction was completed by 1789.
In 1813, the South Engine Drain was routed under the Torne through a syphon, and became the third of the Three Rivers. The 1887 Ordnance Survey map shows only the Torne flowing eastwards from Pilfrey Bridge. As it approaches Althorpe, it splits into two, and uses both of the sluices into the Trent. The Folly Drain turns to the south and joins the Trent at Derrythorpe. By 1946/51, maps show a connection between the Torne and the middle of the Three Rivers, with a connection between the middle channel and the east channel downstream of Pilfrey Bridge. By 1966, the channels are inter-connected much as they are today, with a sluice between the Folly Drain and the South Engine Drain, and the sluices at Althorpe and Derrythorpe no longer used.
The outlet into the River Trent
at Keadby was by gravity until 1940, when the pumping station was built to assist when water levels in the Trent are too high to allow for gravity discharge. Six 60 inches (152.4 cm) Gwynnes pumps were powered by 420 hp Crossley diesel engines, but one of them was replaced by an electric motor in 1994, when the engines were refurbished by the National Rivers Authority
. It was the availability of power, which enabled water to be discharged to the Trent at all states of the tide that led to the routing of the Torne and the Folly Drain to Keadby, and the abandonment of the Althorpe and Derrythorpe outfalls.
s were set up to manage low-lying areas prone to flooding. The area to the east of Tickhill, surrounding the Torne from where it crosses the A60 road
to a little below the junction with the Middle Drain, has been managed by the Tickhill Internal Drainage Board since 1931. They are responsible for an area of 10 square miles (25.9 km²), which includes 9 miles (14.5 km) of watercourses. Most of these flow into the Torne by gravity, but the Middle Drain has suffered from subsidence, and a pumping station was installed in the 1970s to overcome this. The IDB operate the station on behalf of the National Coal Board
, who own it.
, and he created the Upper Lake and the Lower Lake, from which the river flows. The Upper Lake is close to the 130 feet (39.6 m) contour, but the outlet to the river is at the 98 feet (29.9 m) contour.
The river flows to the east, and within a short distance it has dropped below the 49 feet (14.9 m) before it is crossed by the A60 Oldcotes to Tickhill road at the foot of Malpas Hill. It turns to the north to pass under the embankment of the dismantled railway which used to serve Firbeck Colliery at Langold
, and the industrial railway which serves Harworth Colliery. The river is joined by a number of drainage dikes and ditches as it crosses Tickhill Low Common, to the south of Tickhill
. The common and the river are crossed by the Doncaster Bypass section of the A1(M) motorway
, which is built on an embankment here and was one of the earliest motorways built in Britain, opening in July 1961.
Next it passes under the A631 Tickhill to Bawtry road at Goole Bridge. The river carries the alternative name of Goole Dike at this point. The Middle Drain joins the river just before it crosses the 16 feet (4.9 m) contour, and the western bank is embanked as it passes Reedy Holmes Plantation. Already the meandering course of the river has been replaced by straight sections with tight bends. The Little Mother Drain, which drains Stancil Carr and Wellingley Low Grounds, joins before the river passes around the western edge of the huge spoil heap of Rossington Main Colliery, and St Catherine's Well Stream, which flows eastwards from a well between Loversall
and Balby
joins at the northern edge of the spoil heap. The channel is embanked at a number of locations from here onwards. To the north of Rossington
it turns to the east to pass under the East Coast Main Line
railway, and then the A638 Great North Road at Rossington Bridge, which it shares with the Mother Drain. This drains the area around Doncaster Railport and the Potteric Carr Nature Reserve
, and the flows combine after the bridge, near the site of some Roman pottery kilns and Wheatcroft fishing lakes.
Next to cross are the Doncaster
to Gainsborough
railway line and the B1396 road at Auckley
Bridge. The Aldam Drain drains Cantley Low Common, and beyond the junction, the river becomes a high level carrier, with permanent embanking of both banks, and catchwater drains running along the foot of both banks. At Candy Farm there are two pumping stations, the southern one pumping the Black Bank Drain into the river, and the northern one pumping the East Ring Drain. At Tunnel Pits, there are two more pumping stations, and Tunnel Pits Bridge carries the road which follows Vermuyden's North Idle Drain over the channel. Soon, the South Engine Drain is running parallel to the river, as it crosses under Sandtoft Road and the M180 motorway
. As it turns to the east again, the Folly Drain also runs parallel, but a little beyond the A161 bridge, the two drains continue to the east, while the river diverts to the north, to run parallel to the North Engine Drain. The Hatfield Waste Drain runs parallel to the North Engine Drain on its south bank, but after the approach on the Torne, there was nowhere for it to go, and so it passes under the North Engine Drain to its north bank through a grade II listed syphon, which was probably built by Samual Foster in 1795 or by Thackray in 1813 as part of a series of improvements recommended by the engineer John Rennie.
The three parallel channels, with the A18 running to the south of the Hatfield Waste Drain, arrive at Pilfrey Bridge, where they are joined by the South Engine Drain and the Folly Drain. The River Torne used to continue eastwards to a sluice at Althorpe, but the sluice is no more and the channel drains in the reverse direction. The South Engine Drain, which was built as part of improvements made in 1795, used to pass under the Torne and the road through another grade II listed syphon, which dates from 1813. The syphon is now redundant, since the channels have been connected together. Three parallel channels, known as the Three Rivers, flow to the north east, passing under the Doncaster to Scunthorpe
railway, to arrive at Keadby
pumping station.
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
and North Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in the region of Yorkshire and the Humber in England. For ceremonial purposes it is part of Lincolnshire....
. It rises at the Upper Lake at Sandbeck Hall, near Maltby
Maltby
Maltby, from Old Norse "Malti's farm", can be the name of a person, an organization, or a place:Places:*Maltby, Lincolnshire, England*Maltby, South Yorkshire, England, near Rotherham...
in South Yorkshire, and empties into the River Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
at Keadby
Keadby
Keadby is a small village lying just off the A18, west of Scunthorpe, in North Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the West bank of the River Trent. It is pronounced "Kidby"....
pumping station. Much of the channel is engineered, as it plays a significant role in the drainage of Hatfield Chase
Hatfield Chase
Hatfield Chase was a low-lying area in South Yorkshire, England which often flooded and is chiefly known from the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633. It was a royal hunting ground until Charles I appointed the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden to drain it in 1626...
, which it crosses.
History
Before 1628, much of the area through which the River Torne now passes was waterlogged, and the river system was quite different. The River Don flowed across Hatfield ChaseHatfield Chase
Hatfield Chase was a low-lying area in South Yorkshire, England which often flooded and is chiefly known from the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633. It was a royal hunting ground until Charles I appointed the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden to drain it in 1626...
from Stainforth
Stainforth
Stainforth could be*Stainforth, North Yorkshire, England*Stainforth, South Yorkshire, England*Stainforth, Victoria, Australia...
to Adlingfleet
Adlingfleet
Adlingfleet is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that forms part of the civil parish of Twin Rivers. It is situated approximately to the east of Goole town centre.-History:...
. The River Idle
River Idle
The River Idle is a river in Nottinghamshire, England. Its source is the confluence of the River Maun and River Meden, near Markham Moor. From there, it flows north through Retford and Bawtry before entering the River Trent at Stockwith near Misterton...
flowed northwards from the point later called Idle Stop, and joined the Don near to Sandtoft, while the Torne formed two channels to the west of Wroot
Wroot
Wroot is a linear village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Lincolnshire.Wroot is located south of the River Torne on the Isle of Axholme very close to the boundary with South Yorkshire. Administratively it forms part of North Lincolnshire. The name is derived from wrot, Old...
, both of which joined the Idle.
In 1626, Cornelius Vermuyden
Cornelius Vermuyden
Sir Cornelius Wasterdyk Vermuyden was a Dutch engineer who introduced Dutch reclamation methods to Britain, and made the first important attempts to drain The Fens of East Anglia.-Life:...
was given the task of draining Hatfield Chase, and he radically altered the rivers. The Don was routed northwards from Stainforth, to join the River Aire
River Aire
The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England of length . Part of the river is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation....
near Turnbridge, while the Idle was dammed at Idle Stop, and routed eastwards to join the Trent at West Stockwith
West Stockwith
West Stockwith is a village within the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England.East Stockwith is a settlement close by, but within the county boundaries of Lincolnshire.-Etymology:...
. This left the Torne with no outfall, and a completely new channel was constructed for it, which was embanked on both sides. It ran in a north-easterly direction from Wroot for 6 miles (9.7 km), crossing the Isle of Axholme
Isle of Axholme
The Isle of Axholme is part of North Lincolnshire, England. It is the only part of Lincolnshire west of the River Trent. It is between the three towns of Doncaster, Scunthorpe and Gainsborough.- Description:...
, and then turned to the east for 3 miles (4.8 km), where it entered the Trent at a sluice near Althorpe. At the same time, a drain was constructed which ran northwards from Idle Stop in a straight line for 8 miles (12.9 km) to Dirtness. It passed under the new channel of the Torne at Tunnel Pits. At Dirtness it was joined by another new drain, some 3 miles (4.8 km) long, flowing in from the west, and the combined flow was carried to the east for a further 5 miles (8 km), to enter the Trent at another sluice at Althorpe. The Torne sluice was 11 feet (3.4 m) wide, and the sluice on the drain was 14 feet (4.3 m) wide.
The new route of the Torne was not entirely successful. It crossed fertile parture land to the north-western of the Isle of Axholme, but the banks were not sufficiently large to hold the maximum volume of water which the river could deliver, and the agricultural land was subject to flooding. There was dissatisfaction among the inhabitants of the Hatfield Chase area with the effects of the drainage scheme, which resulted in riots and damage to the work. A series of law suits followed, and the situation was not finally resolved until 1719.
In the 1760s, there were plans to drain Potteric Carr, an area of wetland to the south of Doncaster covering 4250 acres (1,719.9 ha). The engineers John Smeaton
John Smeaton
John Smeaton, FRS, was an English civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist...
and James Brindley
James Brindley
James Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...
were responsible for the plans, but Thomas Tofield, a botanist and civil engineer who lives nearby at Balby
Balby
Balby is a suburb of Doncaster located to the south-west of the borough in the north of England. It is home to the former secondary school, now sports college Balby Carr...
, directed the project when work began in 1765 or 1766. The first stages involved a new channel for the Torne, and the construction of the Mother Drain, the main drainage channel for the area, together with two branch drains. These were completed by 1768. Doncaster Corporation then divided up the Carr and enclosed it, and when this was completed in 1771, Trustees took over the management of the scheme. Further work was done between 1772 and 1777, again with Tofield directing, and Mathias Scott acting as resident engineer and surveyor. By the time the scheme was completed, 4.6 miles (7.4 km) of the river channel had been rerouted, the Mother Drain had been extended to 4.5 miles (7.2 km), and 3 miles (4.8 km) of catchwater drains had been build.
The fall on the Mother Drain was very low, but Smeaton had designed it with a channel, the bottom of which was below the level of the outfall. In a separate dispute over the design of drains for Deeping Fen
Deeping Fen
Deeping Fen is a low-lying area in Lincolnshire in the east of England, which covers around . It is bounded by the River Welland and the River Glen, and is extensively drained, but the efficient drainage of the land exercised the minds of several of the great civil engineers of the 17th and 18th...
, he explained how he had used the extra depth at Potteric Carr, since the flow increases depending on the ratio of the cross-sectional area to the wetted perimeter, when the gradient of the channel is less than 4 inches per mile (6 cm per km). The sluice which connected the Mother Drain to the Torne was designed by Scott in 1772. Scott resigned his post in April 1774, to move to Thorne and to work for the Trustees of Hatfield Chase. One of his first suggestions was to divert the Torne out of the Chase altogether, by making a new cut for it to the River Don at Thorne. Thomas Yeoman proposed an alternative scheme, which involved routing the drains away from Althorpe to a new outfall some 4 miles (6.4 km) downstream on the Trent.
Scott produced a report on both schemes in October 1775, but the cost of acquiring the land outside of the Chase was a major disadvantage. Exactly a year later, Smeaton produced a detailed report on the Torne, and work began, but some alterations were made as the scheme progressed. Scott suggested that the northern drain should be re-routed to Keadby, and then steered the bill through Parliament. The Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
was obtained in March 1783, before he retired in June. Samuel Foster replaced him, built the new drain and outfall at Keadby, and built separate outfalls at Althorpe for the Torne and the southern drain. The reconstruction was completed by 1789.
In 1813, the South Engine Drain was routed under the Torne through a syphon, and became the third of the Three Rivers. The 1887 Ordnance Survey map shows only the Torne flowing eastwards from Pilfrey Bridge. As it approaches Althorpe, it splits into two, and uses both of the sluices into the Trent. The Folly Drain turns to the south and joins the Trent at Derrythorpe. By 1946/51, maps show a connection between the Torne and the middle of the Three Rivers, with a connection between the middle channel and the east channel downstream of Pilfrey Bridge. By 1966, the channels are inter-connected much as they are today, with a sluice between the Folly Drain and the South Engine Drain, and the sluices at Althorpe and Derrythorpe no longer used.
The outlet into the River Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
at Keadby was by gravity until 1940, when the pumping station was built to assist when water levels in the Trent are too high to allow for gravity discharge. Six 60 inches (152.4 cm) Gwynnes pumps were powered by 420 hp Crossley diesel engines, but one of them was replaced by an electric motor in 1994, when the engines were refurbished by the National Rivers Authority
National Rivers Authority
The National Rivers Authority was one of the forerunners of the Environment Agency of England and Wales, existing between 1989 and 1996. Before 1989 the regulation of the aquatic environment had largely been carried out by the ten Regional Water Authorities...
. It was the availability of power, which enabled water to be discharged to the Trent at all states of the tide that led to the routing of the Torne and the Folly Drain to Keadby, and the abandonment of the Althorpe and Derrythorpe outfalls.
Internal drainage
Following the passing of the Land Drainage Act in 1930, Internal Drainage BoardInternal Drainage Board
An internal drainage board is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management within drainage districts...
s were set up to manage low-lying areas prone to flooding. The area to the east of Tickhill, surrounding the Torne from where it crosses the A60 road
A60 road
The A60 is a road linking Loughborough in Leicestershire, England, with Doncaster in South Yorkshire, via Nottingham.It takes the following route:*Loughborough**Rempstone**Costock**Bunny**Ruddington*West Bridgford*Nottingham**Sherwood**Arnold...
to a little below the junction with the Middle Drain, has been managed by the Tickhill Internal Drainage Board since 1931. They are responsible for an area of 10 square miles (25.9 km²), which includes 9 miles (14.5 km) of watercourses. Most of these flow into the Torne by gravity, but the Middle Drain has suffered from subsidence, and a pumping station was installed in the 1970s to overcome this. The IDB operate the station on behalf of the National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
, who own it.
Route
The River Torne rises in the grounds of Sandbeck Hall, the home of the Earl of Scarborough. The house is a grade I listed structure, and was originally built in 1626 for Sir Nicholas Saunderson. James Paine extended it in the 1760s for the fourth Earl, and the interior was remodelled for the ninth Earl by William Burn in 1857. The grounds were landscaped by Capability BrownCapability Brown
Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...
, and he created the Upper Lake and the Lower Lake, from which the river flows. The Upper Lake is close to the 130 feet (39.6 m) contour, but the outlet to the river is at the 98 feet (29.9 m) contour.
The river flows to the east, and within a short distance it has dropped below the 49 feet (14.9 m) before it is crossed by the A60 Oldcotes to Tickhill road at the foot of Malpas Hill. It turns to the north to pass under the embankment of the dismantled railway which used to serve Firbeck Colliery at Langold
Langold
Langold is a village in Bassetlaw, North Nottinghamshire. It was built to provide housing for the miners of Firbeck Colliery between 1923 and 1927, and Langold Lakes Country Park is situated on the south-western edge of the village.-History:...
, and the industrial railway which serves Harworth Colliery. The river is joined by a number of drainage dikes and ditches as it crosses Tickhill Low Common, to the south of Tickhill
Tickhill
Tickhill is a small, wealthy town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, on the border with Nottinghamshire. It has a population of 5,301.-Geography:...
. The common and the river are crossed by the Doncaster Bypass section of the A1(M) motorway
A1(M) motorway
The A1 is a motorway in England that upgrades sections of the A1 road that connects London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland...
, which is built on an embankment here and was one of the earliest motorways built in Britain, opening in July 1961.
Next it passes under the A631 Tickhill to Bawtry road at Goole Bridge. The river carries the alternative name of Goole Dike at this point. The Middle Drain joins the river just before it crosses the 16 feet (4.9 m) contour, and the western bank is embanked as it passes Reedy Holmes Plantation. Already the meandering course of the river has been replaced by straight sections with tight bends. The Little Mother Drain, which drains Stancil Carr and Wellingley Low Grounds, joins before the river passes around the western edge of the huge spoil heap of Rossington Main Colliery, and St Catherine's Well Stream, which flows eastwards from a well between Loversall
Loversall
Loversall is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 128.-References:...
and Balby
Balby
Balby is a suburb of Doncaster located to the south-west of the borough in the north of England. It is home to the former secondary school, now sports college Balby Carr...
joins at the northern edge of the spoil heap. The channel is embanked at a number of locations from here onwards. To the north of Rossington
Rossington
Rossington is a civil parish and former mining village in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England and is surrounded by countryside and the market towns of Bawtry and Tickhill.-Geography:...
it turns to the east to pass under the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
railway, and then the A638 Great North Road at Rossington Bridge, which it shares with the Mother Drain. This drains the area around Doncaster Railport and the Potteric Carr Nature Reserve
Potteric Carr Nature Reserve
Potteric Carr Nature Reserve is a nature reserve at Potteric Carr, south of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England and managed by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust as their flagship - and largest - reserve....
, and the flows combine after the bridge, near the site of some Roman pottery kilns and Wheatcroft fishing lakes.
Next to cross are the Doncaster
Doncaster railway station
Doncaster railway station serves the town of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross, and is about five minutes walk from Doncaster town centre. The station is managed by East Coast...
to Gainsborough
Gainsborough Central railway station
Gainsborough Central railway station is a railway station in the town of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. The town's other station is the busier Gainsborough Lea Road...
railway line and the B1396 road at Auckley
Auckley
Auckley is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, about five miles east of Doncaster town centre. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 3,266...
Bridge. The Aldam Drain drains Cantley Low Common, and beyond the junction, the river becomes a high level carrier, with permanent embanking of both banks, and catchwater drains running along the foot of both banks. At Candy Farm there are two pumping stations, the southern one pumping the Black Bank Drain into the river, and the northern one pumping the East Ring Drain. At Tunnel Pits, there are two more pumping stations, and Tunnel Pits Bridge carries the road which follows Vermuyden's North Idle Drain over the channel. Soon, the South Engine Drain is running parallel to the river, as it crosses under Sandtoft Road and the M180 motorway
M180 motorway
The M180 motorway is a short but major motorway in England from junction 5 on the M18 motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster to a point close to Humberside Airport some from the ports of Immingham and Grimsby and the east coast and provides access for major routes to Cleethorpes,...
. As it turns to the east again, the Folly Drain also runs parallel, but a little beyond the A161 bridge, the two drains continue to the east, while the river diverts to the north, to run parallel to the North Engine Drain. The Hatfield Waste Drain runs parallel to the North Engine Drain on its south bank, but after the approach on the Torne, there was nowhere for it to go, and so it passes under the North Engine Drain to its north bank through a grade II listed syphon, which was probably built by Samual Foster in 1795 or by Thackray in 1813 as part of a series of improvements recommended by the engineer John Rennie.
The three parallel channels, with the A18 running to the south of the Hatfield Waste Drain, arrive at Pilfrey Bridge, where they are joined by the South Engine Drain and the Folly Drain. The River Torne used to continue eastwards to a sluice at Althorpe, but the sluice is no more and the channel drains in the reverse direction. The South Engine Drain, which was built as part of improvements made in 1795, used to pass under the Torne and the road through another grade II listed syphon, which dates from 1813. The syphon is now redundant, since the channels have been connected together. Three parallel channels, known as the Three Rivers, flow to the north east, passing under the Doncaster to Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe railway station
Scunthorpe railway station serves the town of Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire, England. The station is located a short walk from the town centre, on Station Road....
railway, to arrive at Keadby
Keadby
Keadby is a small village lying just off the A18, west of Scunthorpe, in North Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the West bank of the River Trent. It is pronounced "Kidby"....
pumping station.